A Life Less Ordinary
by Aida
Summary: C&M mush.


Me wrote a fanfic! "Shh, don't talk, you might scare it away!"

The title is stolen from a movie and a song, but has nothing to do with them. The fic takes place somewhere in season 6 or 7. It's actually supposed to be thought-provoking;) For me it was so thought-provoking that I couldn't fall asleep last night. And I mean it:)

A huge thank you goes the Stephanie, the best proof reader I have ever had (also the only one, but who cares:))

**A Life Less Ordinary**

Ross straightened out his legs and placed them on the coffee table, blissfully unaware of the fact that the Monica didn't kill him only because she was bored to death.

"...and so..." he finished his lecture in a rather monotonous voice. "...we are all pretty much coincidental. I mean, a few proteins here, a couple of Golggi apparatus there... It's all just a matter of coincidence." he repeated.

"So what you're saying is that we are all just clusters of molecules?" Rachel yawned.

"Exactly." Ross nodded his head eagerly. "You hit the nail on the head, Rach."

"I bet she'd rather hit you on the head, Ross." Chandler mumbled into Monica's hair, almost inaudibly.

"You know Ross," Rachel shook her head "I think it might be just the effect of your three divorces."

"What?" he asked genuinely surprised.

"Well... molecules and all... so where'e the soul and, you know, all that kind of stuff?"

"Neurones."

"Bullshit."

"Rachel is right." Joey added. "It can't be just... pure luck and biology. What about love?"

"Says Joey, for whom love is a strictly biological notion." Ross smiled. "Moreover, boredom is the only reason we exist."

"Eww, Ross." Monica made a disgusted face.

"Mon, how many times have our parents told you about those holidays..."

"Too many!" she cut him off.

"I have never heard you being so opinionated, Ross." Chandler spoke up. "Who would have thought..."

"Hey, Ross!" Rachel got an idea. "You have a son. Ben."

"What about him?"

"Well, you love him, don't you?"

"Of course I do." he shrugged his shoulders.

"See, love between a man and a woman can be 'blamed' on biology, but what about paternal love?" Rachel smiled evilly.

"That's more of a social issue..." Ross sterted, but again Monica cut him off.

"Ross, you need a shrink."

"Phew, psychologists, I've lost faith in them long ago. I mean, they've never even seen a BRAIN."

"Yeah, so?"

"They are like... WORSE doctors..." Ross explained.

"As oppposed to paleontologists" Phoebe giggled.

"Listen guys. There are so may people. Each of them has a family, friends, a job. And each of them thinks he is very important, even though he does nothing important. We think we're the centres of thw world. And no one is in fact. We think we are so extraordinary... Any reasons for being such?" he asked.

No one answered.

Three hours and one sexual intercourse later, two clusters of molecules, namely Chandler and Monica, were lying in their bed, snuggled close to each other and drifting off to sleep. Well, at least Chandler was. Monica's mind busy digesting Ross's words from earlier that evening. Disregarding the fact that she hadn't expected her brother to be so ratonal and cynical in a way... she still found something disturbing in there. Something she couldn't deal with.

Could that be true? Could it all be just chemistry, biology and physics? Could the secret of life, death and love be so simple and basically the same? She didn't want stupid biological laws sealing her fate. There was something.. something so DEFINITE about this. Like there was no turning back. Like she had nothing to do with her life.

It was like you were bringing your children to this world only so they could perform physiological activities.

And where was the place for the magic of birth, the miracle of love, all that she had been dreaming of?

Monica sighed. There was absolutely no way she was going to fall asleep that night. Not with something like THAT on her chest. It was going to be one of those famous nights, like when you wake up at three am with a weird feeling that you can't get out of your head and you stay awake till the dawn... not even deliberately, but just because you can't find rest. That one night. The next days you sleep peacefully like a baby. But those nights are important. They are often the only times when you are being honest with yourself.

"Chandler?" Monica nudged her boyfriend not-so-gently. If she was to stay up, so was he.

"Mmm, what?" he mumbled, half-asleep.

"I can't sleep." she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Could you... keep me company?" she asked hopefully.

"You want to have sex?" Chandler questioned, opening his eyes slowly.

"No.. just, well, talk... or what..."

"What about?" he sighed resignedly.

"Life..." she trailed off thoughtfully.

"Jesus Christ, Mon, it's one o'clock in the morning, are you sure you wanna talk about life NOW?"

"Yes! I can't sleep because of that! Ross... what he said about molecules... it bugs me!"

"Ross is a moron, we all know that, including him."

"Eh..." Monica shrugged her shoulders.

"I mean it. And he's just come off anti-depressants! That has to be hard for him."

"Well, but he is right in a few points. We don't know... if there's more to that? Maybe there isn't? And he is totally right aboutr lives being so ordinary... We achieve nothing. Every day is just the same.

Everything that our world consists of is just a tiny percent of what we could know if we wanted. But we don't really want. That's weird. And... I don't like it."

"Monica, there are millions of people in the world and if all of them listened to your gel-loving brother, we would have a sudden outburst of panic. Now go to sleep."

"I told you I CAN'T!" she moaned in frustration.

"You're not trying hard enough." Chandler said, closing his eyes and hoping for more sleep.

"I hate you." she mumbled.

"I love you too, hon. Night." Chandler mumbled back.

There was a bit of silence whilst Monica sat up and sighed loudly enough for Chandler to hear her. Still, he did nothing. Another few minutes passed and Monice spoke up again.

"Chandler, I'm scared."

He opened one eye, then another. He couldn't see her very well, just a black shape frame by the little light there was from the street, but he knew her silhouette all too well.

"Of?"

"Of everything." she whispered. "Of life, of death, you name it. I'm scared nothing makes sense. And most of all, I'm scared of Ross." she added, trying to lighten up her speech a bit.

"Mon" Chandler said carefully. "Of course it all DOES makes sense. You just have to look at the bright side. Like Pollyanna."

"Pollyanna? Chandler, did you..."

"I watched the movie, okay?"

"Sure..." she tried not to giggle.

"Well, I'm waiting!"

"Waiting! What for? Not even your Pollyanna could help here! I'm NO ONE. I'm thirty years old, I have a job where everyone hates me. I earn just enough money to tie the ends together, but no luxuries. My mom hates me. My dad is afraid of my mom. And my brother is a jerk! Can YOU see a bright side there?"

"No." he admitted.

"Exactly."

"But only because I don't have a mirror right now!"

"Excuse me?" she asked, confused.

"Uh, hello! ME! Am I not a bright side of your life?"

"Well..." she trailed off.

"WHAT? Was that hesitation I heard?"

Monica lied down close to him again.

"Of course. Of course you are. How could you even doubt that?" she said softly.

"Well, it's not like you mentioned me!" he remarked, rather annoyed.

"It's just... I guess... you've always been there for me... as a friend or boyfriend... or both... So I take you for granted... or something."

"What about Rach, Phoebe, Joey? Ross is a jerk, we've established that. Do you take them for granted too?"

"Yeah... I shouldn't, should I?"

"I don't know, Mon. We all do that anyway."

Monica snuggled closer to him. He was so warm.

"Chandler... I'm sorry I didn't say that... that you are the bright side of my life... You are, you know? You light up my life."

"It's okay."

"Because apart from that taking for granted thing... I was a bit shy."

"Shy? After all those things we have done..." Chandler laughed.

"Not in THAT way. Come on, how sappy does that all sound? You light up my life? I didn't want you to think I was getting all teary and mushy."

"I said it's alright. I know you are not teary. You are a strong woman." he said, trying to sound serious and not let her know that to him she was just as fragile as a china doll. Not in a bad way though. She was just so precious he was afraid to... break her. And besides, he knew she was likely to cry over spilt milk. LITERALLY. "Are you okay now? You wanna go to sleep now?"

"Okay."

But before any of them dozed off, Chandler's voice was heard again.

"Mon... you know what? You light up my life."

"Thanks." She whispered. "And I know" she added, immodestly.

"I know you know... I just wanted to make sure you heard that. Cos I want you to know." Monica said in strange voice, suddenly just as shy as Monica before. Suddenly they felt both felt an awkward gulp forming in their throats.

They actually felt like a couple of teenagers on a first date, not like adult people in a stable relationship who have known each other for ages. Monica felt the tingling she had felt during their first kiss, and they weren't even kissing now.

It was dark. The only source of light was small crack in the window blinds. The clock was ticking rhythmically. She knew that outside the street lamps were shining and that cars were driving down the streets despite the late time. She knew that Rachel was in the next room and Joey was on a date. It was a perfectly ordinary night. She's been through many nights like this one and was actually hoping for more. So what if it was just a thread of biological actions.

There was something in that familiar darkness she would never trade for the most adventurous life.

Chandler.

She though of what lay ahead... probably. She thought of a white wedding dress, of a little girl or a little boy and 'mom' being their first word. She imagined a small suburban house with a garden. She imagined people close to her being there. She tried to think af what important was still to happen to her.

And Chandler was there everytime.

She smiled to herself.

Chandler was right. Ross might be a big pile of Golggi apparatus if he only wished, but she and Chandler certainly had a life less ordinary.


End file.
